Paul McCartney Could Regain Rights to Beatles Songs (Report)

The rights to the rich songbook of the Beatles could wind up back in the hands of Paul McCartney – but he’ll have to wait five years.

The late Michael Jackson owned about half of the copyrights to a large portion of the Beatles’ songs, with Sony/ATV Music Publishing holding the remainder. However, McCartney can regain the rights held by Jackson, according to a report from the music site Fader.

The U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 enables songwriters to regain control of publishing rights on pre-1978 compositions after 56 years. That means that the former Beatle will be able to regain control over the band's compositions from 1962 in 2018 and songs from 1970 in 2026.